Games in Beer Sheva, Ashdod and Rishon Lezion were postponed, but the Tel Aviv derby at Bloomfield Stadium went ahead as scheduled. More than 7,000 fans attended, even though sirens sounded and a rocket was intercepted above the city an hour before kick-off as Bnei Yehuda beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0.

Maccabi technical director Cruyff said: “Some things are more important than football and it’s hard to concentrate in this situation."

Luzon responded, saying: "Cruyff is a foreigner in Israel. Let him worry about Maccabi and not running the country."

Maccabi’s Rob Earnshaw says he has been struggling to focus on playing in recent days. The striker, who is on loan from Cardiff City, said: “We watched two intercepting rockets blow up a missile in the sky when we just about to start training.

"It's scary. They say virtually every missile thrown into Tel Aviv is intercepted, but there is always that chance one or two might get through.

"It is a hard one because the football has been good. Everything is good, we are top of the league, and the team has been doing very well.

"I am hoping this will get better and back to normal soon, but we will see what happens."